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0. A. PETTIE.

HARNESS SADDLE AND COLLAR. No. 269,596. Patented Dec.26,1882.

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UNITED STATES PATENT Fries.

CHARLES A. PETTIE, OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK.

HARNESS SADDLE AN D COLLAR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 269,596, dated December 26, 1882,

Application filed September 1?, i882. (No model.)

T 0 all whom it may concern Be it known that I, CHARLES A.PE'11IE, of the city of Brooklyn, county of Kings, and State of New York, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Harness Gollars and Saddles; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same,'reference being had to the accompanying drawings, making a part of this specification.

The nature of my improvement consists in so constructing the collar or saddle that the pad or body side, which rests against or upon the animal, shall be and form an air-chamber, thus securing a flexible or yieldingcushion against the animal, and thereby more certainly preventing any galling and soreness.

The drawings showmyinvention as applied to a horse-collar.

Figure l is a view of the pad or body side of the collar, showing the air-cushion or flexible portion that rests upon the neckof the horse. Fig. 2 is a view of the outer side of the collar, showing its solid part,with its terrcts and traceconnections. Fig. 3 is an inside view of the solid part of the collar, showing one manner of securing thereto the pad or air-chamber. Fig. 4 is a cross-section of the collar through its several parts. Fig. 5 is an enlarged view of the fastening at the bottom of the collar.

My improved collar consists of a frame in two sections hinged at the top, to which the traces are attached, and which corresponds with the ordinary hames, and a pad firmly attached to the same,and capable of being filled with air, which corresponds with the pad or body side of the ordinary collar. As will be seen, the hames and collar, which commonly are separate parts of the harness, are in my improvement attached together, forming one part, while for convenience of putting on. the horse the collar opens at the bottom by means of a hinge at the top of the frame, when it is dropped over the horses neck, and then fastened by a catch on the bottom of the solid frame.

The frame or solid part of the collar, A A, Fig. 2, is generally made of wood, which may he provided with iron bandsa about the edges to stiffen the same and prevent the wood from warping, and is in two pieces shaped to fit the neck of the horse, which are connected together at the top by means of the hinge H, and are fastened at the bottom by the fastening F. ()n the front of this solid part or frame are secured the terrets R R, through which the reins pass, and the hooks or rings T T, to which are fastened the traces.

The pad or body side of the collar, B B, Fig. 1, is generally made of vulcanized rubber in one piece,of a shape to fit the frame to which it is attached. At the top is a tube, E, provided with a screw-cap, e, through which air is introduced to extend the pad.

The method of fastening the pad to the frame will be best understood by referring to the drawings,Figs.3 and 4. Fig. 3 shows the solid part or frame A A turned over, so as toexpose the inside. 0 U are two separate metallic .strips or plates extending around the inside edges of the frame and next to the band orlip a. The open edges of the pad are placed under the plate 0, or between it and the frame A, and then the plate is tightly screwed to the latter by screws from the outside of the frame entering the holes S in the plate, as shown in Fig. 4..

In order to make the connection between the solid part of frame A and the pad B air-tight, the edges of the pad are provided with a head, or made thicker than the rest, as shown at I), Fig. 4, so that when the plate is screwed to the frame this thick portion ofthepad is pressed out and fills or occupies all the space inside the band or hp it, thus making a tight joint. If necessary to make the joint more tight, cement may be used around the inside edge of the frame. The pad being tightly secured to the frame, air is introduced or blown through the tube E until the pad is sufliciently extended, when the collar is ready tor use. The pad is flexible enough at the top to allow the collar to be easily opened at the bottom for the purpose of being put on the horse, as before stated.

The fastening by which the collar is secured at the bottom (shown at F, Fig. 2, and in an enlarged view in Fig. 5) consists of a bolt, 1), sliding in eyes L L, on each end of the frame A A, to which they are fastened by plates P P. On the plate I is a pin, 1. (Shown only in Fig. 5.) The end of the bolt which enters the eye L has a groove, (1, around its circumference, and extending from this groove to the end of the bolt, and lengthwise of the same, is a channel, d. When the bolt is slid into the eye L to fasten the frame together it is turned so that the pin I on the plate P slides in the channel or recess (1 until it reaches the groove (1, when the bolt is turned around, so that the channel (1 is turned away from the pin I, and the latter is confined in the groove 67, thus preventing the bolt t'rom being withdrawn, and holding the two ends of the frame securely together. To undo the fastening it is only necessary to turn the bolt until the pin i will slide in the channel (1, when the bolt may be easily withdrawn from the eye L and collar opened.

The great advantage to be derived from the horse-collar as improved by me and described above is that the body side forms a yielding elastic cushion which readily adapts itself to the movements of the horse in drawing the load. The ordinary collar is more or less rigid in form, and while the filling or stufiing of the pad may yield in places it cannot easilychange its shape. in my collar the pad not only yields more easily where the strain is greatest, but, being filled with air, is elastic, and swells out or is extended to readily adapt itself to the shape and movements of the horses neck, with which it is always in contact throughout its whole extent, and thus the strain of pulling is more evenly extended over the neck of the horse. As the horse puts one leg forwardin the act of pulling, the pad on that side is compressed aud some of the air passes over the top of the collar into the pad on the other side. This not only relieves the pad subject to the strain and prevents its bursting, but extends the pad on the other side to meet the receding movement of the leg on that side, thus keeping the pad constantly in contact with the horses neck, preventing any movement of the collar and enabling the horse to draw the load more evenly and with less effort. The particular construction of the outer or solid part of the collar, and the specific mode of securing the yielding pad or cushion thereto, above described, are, however, not essential, as the solid part ofthe collar may be wholly of metal or wood, or other sntliciently-strong material, and the pad or cushion or yielding portion may be secured thereto in different ways. The pad or cushion, also, may be made of other material than vulcanized rubber-as cotton duck or other substanceso prepared as to retain the air forced into it, and thus secure and give the yielding or elastic character desired. This feature of an elastic or yielding pad or body side to rest against and be in contact with the animal can also be applied to or combined with the saddle ot' the harness, and with ridiiig-saddles, the change required for such application being only one of form in the solid or firm part of the structure and variation in the mode of attaching thereto the elastic or flexible part.

\Vhat is claimed is- 1. The combination, with harness collars or saddles, of hollow pads which rest against or upon the animal, adapted to be filled with com pressed air to form an elastic or yielding cushion, and which have an unbroken ainpassage throughout, for the purpose described, substantially as set forth.

2, The combination, with the frame of a barness collar, also forming the haines, of an elastic pad or cushion adapted to be filled with compressed air, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

3. The combination, with the frame or solid part of a harness collar forming the hames, of an elastic pad or cushion having an unbroken air-passage throughout, made of vulcanized india-rubber, and provided with a valve or tube for inflating the same, substantially as described.

51'. The combination of the frame or solid part A of the collar and the metal plate 0 for securing the hollow elastic pad thereto, substantially as described.

UH AHL'ES A. 'PETTIE.

Witnesses:

DAVID VAN ULEAF, Jr, SAMUEL LEA. 

